JDS: “I want a rubber-match now, I’ll get my belt back”

It may have been a dominating loss for the former champ Junior dos Santos this past Saturday in Vegas, however, the former champ feels ready to step back in sooner than later. JDS says simple changes made to the game-plan would make for a much different storyline and most importantly, a different ending.

“He was better and deserved the win,” said JDS. “But I used the wrong strategy. I was too worried about his takedowns and didn’t protect my face, so he hit me. When the fight was on the ground, I should have used my jiu-jitsu more – I trained it so much. But I just tried to get back up and it didn’t help me. But on the ground he is very good, very strong. I didn’t really connect with any good punches. It was disappointing, because I was feeling good, had an awesome training camp, everything was right. But that’s how fighting is … I want (a rubber match) now, soon. I won the first one and he got a rematch. Now I lost and I want my rematch. I’m saying I want this fight. I’ll get my belt back.” – SportTV Globo (Portuguese)

You have to respect the heart of the former champ, however his wishes are unlikely at this point. The opinion of most in the MMA community, including (most importantly) UFC president Dana White, is that JDS will need to win a one or two before challenging for the title once again. Just as we had seen in Velasquez’s situation, after losing the title in dominating fashion at UFC on Fox to JDS in a first round knockout, Cain worked his way back, and received his shot over a year later. If Dos Santos continues to evolve as we’ve seen, there is no doubt that we will see a trilogy of Velasquez vs. Dos Santos in the near future.